Scottish Executive

Adult Literacy

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent representations it has received concerning a national adult literacy and numeracy agency.

Ms Wendy Alexander: There have been no recent representations.

Aggregates Tax

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional funding it plans to provide to local authorities in 2002-03 to deal with any additional costs incurred by them as a result of the introduction of the Aggregates Tax.

Peter Peacock: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-18791 on 22 October 2001.

Aggregates Tax

Tricia Marwick (Mid Scotland and Fife) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much of the £680 million announced by the Minister for Transport and Planning on 27 March 2001 for road improvements over the next three years will be used to pay the Aggregates Tax.

Sarah Boyack: The impact of the Aggregates Tax on roads schemes will vary depending on the quantities of newly quarried, recycled or exempt materials to be used in construction. It is not yet possible to estimate the impact on costs but we will monitor this as schemes come forward.

Aggregates Tax

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has received from local authorities on any possible increase in road construction and maintenance costs following the introduction of the Aggregates Tax and what the estimated increase and additional costs would be for each authority.

Peter Peacock: I am not aware of any representations received from local authorities on any possible cost increases arising from the new Aggregates Tax.

  The financial impact for individual local authorities will depend on their purchasing policies. The aim of the new tax is to promote a change of behaviour amongst purchasers of aggregates, including local authorities.

Aggregates Tax

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the impact on the amount of construction materials being imported as a result of the introduction of the Aggregates Tax.

Mr Alasdair Morrison: Taxation is a reserved matter. Assessment of the impact of the Aggregates Levy throughout the UK is a matter for HM Treasury. The intention of HM Treasury is to tax imports of materials covered by the Aggregates Levy, but to exempt exports.

Aggregates Tax

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it plans to take to prevent materials exempt from the Aggregates Tax being incorporated into Private Finance Initiative and Design Build Finance and Operate projects.

Ross Finnie: The Aggregates Tax is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has no plans to prevent material exempt from the Aggregates Tax being incorporated into Public Finance Initiative or Design, Build, Finance and Operate projects. Where the Scottish Executive is the client it does not, as a rule, specify the provenance of the materials to be used. It is hoped, however, that contractors will choose materials, such as recycled aggregate, that come from more sustainable sources.

Aggregates Tax

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it plans to take to protect the rural economy against the effect of any small quarry companies closing as a result of the introduction of the Aggregates Tax.

Ross Finnie: The Aggregates Tax is a reserved matter. The Scottish Executive has no plans to provide additional assistance related to the tax.

Aggregates Tax

Miss Annabel Goldie (West of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of any possible increase in the volume of heavy goods vehicle traffic having to obtain construction materials from outwith local areas due to the closure of small local quarries following the introduction of the Aggregates Tax.

Ross Finnie: The Aggregates Tax is a reserved matter. Assessment of economic impacts throughout the UK is the responsibility of HM Treasury. No separate assessment of consequential transport impacts has been made in Scotland.

Agriculture

Richard Lochhead (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what assessment has been made of the impact that the European Commission’s proposed Physical Agents Directive will have both generally and, in particular, on the farming industry; what representations it has made to Her Majesty’s Government and the Commission on the proposed Directive, and what response it has received.

Ross Finnie: The Scottish Executive has no functions in relation to health and safety.

Ambulance Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when it will make a decision on the proposed conversion of part-time ambulance stations to full-time operations and in particular, the stations in Peterhead and Fraserburgh.

Susan Deacon: Operational matters, including decisions on which ambulance stations should operate on a full-time basis, are for the Scottish Ambulance Service in the first instance. Health Department officials have discussed with Ambulance Service management the implications of converting to full-time operation a number of ambulance stations in Scotland, alongside other operational issues. The Ambulance Service will make decisions about these matters in light of information about patient care benefits, expected performance improvements, legal requirements, competing priorities and availability of resources.

  The Scottish Executive has allocated the Ambulance Service a total recurring revenue budget of £101.1 million in 2001-02, an increase of 5.8% on last year. For 2002-03, the service has been given an indicative allocation of £107.6 million – a further 6.3% increase.

Ambulance Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources it plans to make available to the Scottish Ambulance Service to deal with the increase in the number of 999 calls.

Susan Deacon: Responding to 999 calls is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19057.

Ambulance Service

Stewart Stevenson (Banff and Buchan) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what steps it has taken or plans to take to end the practice of single manning ambulances.

Susan Deacon: Staffing arrangements for ambulance vehicles is an operational matter for the Scottish Ambulance Service. I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-19057.

Asylum Seekers

Pauline McNeill (Glasgow Kelvin) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to ensure that it meets the demand for experienced and skilled legal practitioners to support the needs of asylum seekers.

Mr Jim Wallace: This is in the first instance an issue for the Law Society of Scotland. I understand that the society has written to the local faculties and associations to highlight the particular issues involved in asylum cases, has recently held a conference for practitioners on this subject and is planning a further training event for early 2002.

  However, the Executive has agreed to fund a pilot project under Part V of the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986 in which the Scottish Legal Aid Board will employ two suitably qualified solicitors to handle asylum casework in the Castlemilk and Sighthill areas of Glasgow and to develop local expertise in the relevant issues.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will publish the results of the beach management trials carried out at Whitesands, Troon and Ayr; whether it will extend the trials to other beaches and, if so, which ones and what plans it has to establish beach management committees for any beach included in the trials.

Rhona Brankin: Research on the feasibility of protocols suggested for the proposed revision of the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC) was carried out by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency at Troon, Ayr, Whitesands and Eyemouth during the 2000 bathing season. It was carried out in conjunction with similar studies by the Environment Agency in England & Wales, and with others elsewhere in Europe, at the request of the European Commission, and there are no plans to publish results. The need for beach management trials and plans for beach management committees will be considered further in connection with implementing the proposed revision.

Bathing Waters

Fiona McLeod (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what representations it has made to the European Union in respect of Directive 76/160/EEC on the quality of bathing waters.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive is in regular contact with the bodies of the European Union on a wide range of issues including the Bathing Waters Directive (76/160/EEC).

Children

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what research has been funded into children who abuse other children.

Nicol Stephen: A Chance to Change: An Intervention With Young People Who Have Sexually Abused Others,  was published in 1997 and summarised research into a project for children who had sexually abused other children. The research was jointly funded by the Scottish Office and Barnardos. There have also been a number of research studies on bullying.

Children

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what projects dealing with children who abuse other children it is currently funding.

Nicol Stephen: There are a wide range of services run by local authorities, health trusts and the voluntary sector which include provision for tackling sexually aggressive and abusing behaviour by children. There are also services dealing with non-sexual abuse by children. An example of this is the funding that the Executive provides to the Anti-Bullying Network, which aims to help schools combat all forms of bullying.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when the annual progress report of the National Group on Domestic Abuse will be published.

Ms Margaret Curran: The National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland first met in June 2001. Its annual report will therefore be prepared in June 2002.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how organisations are being monitored to ensure that good practice guidelines and service standards in respect of domestic abuse are being put into practice as set out in the National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland .

Ms Margaret Curran: This is a matter for the National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland to consider in due course.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what work has been carried out on the development of curriculum materials relating to violence against women as set out in the  National Strategy to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland .

Ms Margaret Curran: The Scottish Executive is working with the Zero Tolerance Trust to make its "Respect" package available to schools. As stated in my reply to question S1W-18518 on 9 October 2001, the Scottish Executive is currently awaiting the final evaluation of the pilot project.

Domestic Abuse

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what plans it has to enlist the assistance of organisations such as Open Secret, Women’s Aid and Zero Tolerance in the training of professionals such as judges, the police, teachers, local authorities and housing associations who come into contact with those who have experienced domestic abuse.

Ms Margaret Curran: The National Group to Address Domestic Abuse in Scotland will consider these matters in due course.

Early Years

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was spent on early years services, excluding mainstream education, in each local authority area in each of the past three years.

Peter Peacock: Local authorities provide a range of early years services. Information which separates mainstream and other service provision is not held centrally.

Education

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what work has been carried out on the development of teaching programmes and in-service teacher training in respect of violence against women.

Mr Jack McConnell: The breadth of primary and secondary Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes does not permit detailed consideration of any one topic. The 1998 Guidelines, with which all courses of initial teacher education must comply, contain a set of competences which teachers are expected to have acquired by the end of their initial training course. Competences relating to personal and social development and health education offer the scope to address the issue of violence against women. These competences will be replaced, in autumn 2002, by the Benchmark Standard on ITE, which builds upon, and updates, the competencies on personal and social development, placing particular emphasis on teachers being able to impart a high regard for equality and social justice to their pupils. Courses are not prescriptive, however, and each training institution will develop its own programme within the context of the Guidelines.

  Earlier this year, the Executive funded a pilot of the "Respect" education package developed by the Zero Tolerance Charitable Trust. Training for teachers and youth workers is included in the "Respect" package and was provided to all those involved in delivering the materials.

  It is the responsibility of local authorities to ensure that a wide range of continuing professional development opportunities is available for qualified teachers. I would expect training aimed at equipping teachers to deal with issues relating to violence against women, such as that provided through the "Respect" package, to be recognised as one such appropriate opportunity.

Education

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will give a breakdown by local authority area of the £20 million allocated for the buying of books and equipment that was announced on 26 October 2001.

Mr Jack McConnell: The following table shows the amounts allocated to each authority. A circular setting out full details of the grant arrangements will be issued shortly to local authorities and copies will be available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre.

  Additional financial resources for schools

  Distribution to authorities

  





£000 
  



Aberdeen City 
  

682 
  



Aberdeenshire 
  

973 
  



Angus 
  

440 
  



Argyll & Bute 
  

356 
  



Clackmannanshire 
  

193 
  



Dumfries & Galloway 
  

608 
  



Dundee City 
  

548 
  



East Ayrshire 
  

491 
  



East Dunbartonshire 
  

496 
  



East Lothian 
  

342 
  



East Renfrewshire 
  

412 
  



Edinburgh, City of 
  

1,343 
  



Eilean Siar 
  

141 
  



Falkirk 
  

539 
  



Fife 
  

1,386 
  



Glasgow City 
  

2,245 
  



Highland 
  

913 
  



Inverclyde 
  

346 
  



Midlothian 
  

335 
  



Moray 
  

354 
  



North Ayrshire 
  

564 
  



North Lanarkshire 
  

1,357 
  



Orkney Islands 
  

99 
  



Perth & Kinross 
  

492 
  



Renfrewshire 
  

715 
  



Scottish Borders 
  

417 
  



Shetland Islands 
  

121 
  



South Ayrshire 
  

452 
  



South Lanarkshire 
  

1,236 
  



Stirling 
  

341 
  



West Dunbartonshire 
  

413 
  



West Lothian 
  

650 
  



Total 
  

20,000

Environment

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether there has been any interruption to the regular monitoring of radiation levels in the environment, such as in locally produced milk, in the air, grass and in the vicinity of the Hunterston nuclear power station in Ayrshire.

Kay Ullrich (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) would be informed of any interruption to regular monitoring of radiation levels in the environment, such as in locally produced milk, in the air, grass and in the vicinity of the Hunterston nuclear power station in Ayrshire and, if so, whether SEPA has made any representations to it on this matter.

Rhona Brankin: This is an operational matter for the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency. The information requested is not held centrally.

Fisheries

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive which company holds the contract to maintain the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency’s vessels.

Rhona Brankin: No single company holds such a contract. The refit works on each of the agency's vessels is subject to competitive tender annually.

Fisheries

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when each of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency’s vessels will enter dry dock for maintenance.

Rhona Brankin: Dry-docking for maintenance purposes is carried out on an annual basis. In this financial year Norna dry-docked on 9 October and Sulisker on 1 November. Vigilant and Westra will dry-dock on 16 January and 25 February respectively.

Fisheries

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it will cost for each of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency’s vessels to be entered into dry dock for maintenance.

Rhona Brankin: The bids submitted by contractors on a commercial basis are confidential but can be in a range of £40,000 to £70,000 per vessel, depending on the specific works required.

Fisheries

Michael Matheson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive when each of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency’s vessels were last entered into dry dock for maintenance.

Rhona Brankin: In the last maintenance round (2000-01) the dry-docking dates for the agency's vessels were as follows:

  


Norna


18.10.00 
  



Sulisker


10.11.00 
  



Vigilant


03.01.01 
  



Westra


13.02.01

Fisheries

Tavish Scott (Shetland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many fishing boats fishing for shellfish within the six mile limit were boarded by officers of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and how many of these led to prosecutions in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Rhona Brankin: I have asked Mr Paul Du Vivier, Chief Executive of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency to respond. His response is as follows:

  During the past five years the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency carried out 1,390 boardings, of fishing boats which were fishing for shellfish within the six mile limit. As a consequence of these boardings, five infringements of the rules were reported for prosecution. The table gives the details on a year by year basis.

  


Year 
  

Fishing Vessel Boardings 
  

Cases Reported for Prosecution 
  



1997 
  

370 
  

- 
  



1998 
  

412 
  

- 
  



1999 
  

217 
  

1 
  



2000 
  

248 
  

3 
  



2001 
(up to 29/10/01) 
  

143 
  

1

Health

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it costs the NHS to purchase a digital hearing aid.

Susan Deacon: There are currently 11 different types of digital hearing aids available to NHSScotland through contracts centrally negotiated by Scottish Healthcare Supplies. The prices range from £120 to £535.

Justice

Hugh Henry (Paisley South) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether witnesses and jurors are entitled to any reimbursement of loss of earnings, childcare costs and travelling expenses due to cancelled court cases and, if so, what the total of each was in (a) 1999-2000 and (b) 2000-01.

Mr Jim Wallace: All Crown witnesses and jurors are entitled to claim necessary and reasonable expenses incurred when attending court. It is normal practice for the Crown to give adequate notice to witnesses, and for the court, to give adequate notice to jurors when court cases are cancelled or rescheduled. If however a case is cancelled on the day of the trial, then necessary and reasonable expenses already incurred will be paid. Amounts paid in respect of cancelled court cases are not recorded separately for either witnesses or jurors.

Justice

Lord James Douglas-Hamilton (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive when the appointment of the new Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice-General will be announced.

Mr Jim Wallace: The appointment of the new Lord President of the Court of Session and Lord Justice-General is made by Her Majesty The Queen on the recommendation of the Prime Minister.

Landfill

Mr Murray Tosh (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S1W-13198 by Mr Sam Galbraith on 9 February 2001, whether it intends to proceed by primary or secondary legislation to incorporate the EC Landfill Directive into law and whether it will set out its timetable for consultation, the publication of the legislation and its passage through the Parliament.

Rhona Brankin: The Scottish Executive intends to proceed by secondary legislation to implement the technical and operational aspects of the EC Landfill Directive 99/31/EC into law. An initial public consultation on these issues was completed earlier this year and the Executive is now preparing a second consultation paper with the aim of issuing this later in November. After a 12-week consultation period it is planned that the regulations will be laid before the Scottish Parliament in draft, and following the 40-day affirmative resolution procedure, the final regulations would be made in April 2002.

Licensing

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many premises currently hold an off-trade liquor licence.

Mr Jim Wallace: The information requested is given in Table 3 of Scottish Executive Statistical Bulletin CrJ/2001/3 – Liquor Licensing Statistics, 2000 – a copy of which is available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. number 17139).

Licensing

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many members of its Committee on Liquor Licensing Law in Scotland are drawn from organisations representing the (a) on-trade and (b) off-trade licensed sectors.

Mr Jim Wallace: The Nicholson Committee on Liquor Licensing Law in Scotland includes one member each from the Brewers’ and Licensed Retailers Association for Scotland (BLRAS) and the Scottish Licensed Trade Association (SLTA). The BLRAS provides on-trade representation and the SLTA provides both on and off-trade representation.

Licensing

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive which member of the Committee on Liquor Licensing Law in Scotland was appointed to represent the views of the off-trade licensed sector during their review of liquor licensing law.

Mr Jim Wallace: The licensed trade in general is represented by Maureen McKerrow of the Scottish Licensed Trade Association and Gordon Millar of the Brewers’ and Licensed Retailers Association of Scotland.

Licensing

Bill Aitken (Glasgow) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it has received any requests from industry bodies to be included in the membership of the Committee on Liquor Licensing Law in Scotland since membership was announced.

Mr Jim Wallace: Since the membership of the Nicholson Committee was announced, the Scottish Retail Consortium has requested representation on the committee.

Mental Health

Mr Adam Ingram (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people (a) absconded from hospitals and (b) were subsequently returned, whilst under section orders issued under the Mental Health (Scotland) Act 1984 in each of the past three years, broken down by health board area.

Susan Deacon: The information for patients not subject to a restriction order is not available centrally.

  Patients on a Hospital Order and Restriction Order become subject to the provisions of Part VI of the 1984 Act and are referred to as "restricted patients". The majority of restricted patients who abscond return to hospital within 24 hours. Because of issues of confidentiality under the Data Protection Act 1998, it is not possible to break the figures down by NHS Board area. In Scotland as a whole, the figures are as follows:

  


1998 
  

15 
  



1999 
  

7 
  



2000 
  

11

Planning

Mr Mike Rumbles (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether a developer is in breach of planning legislation in circumstances where construction has begun without obtaining planning permission and where retrospective planning permission has been applied for but not yet granted, and what powers are available to local authorities to order work to cease on developments which have retrospective planning applications pending but not yet approved.

Lewis Macdonald: The Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act (1997) (Section 123(1)) states that carrying out development without the required planning permission constitutes a breach of planning control.

  Planning authorities have the power to serve an Enforcement Notice, if appropriate, requiring the alleged breach to be remedied. The notice must, among other things, specify the matters which appear to the planning authority to constitute a breach of planning control, the steps which require to be taken, the date on which the notice takes effect and the period allowed for compliance with its' terms.

  In addition, where the planning authority considers it expedient that any "relevant activity" should cease before the expiry of the compliance period in the Enforcement Notice, it may also serve a Stop Notice prohibiting the carrying out of that activity on the land to which the Enforcement Notice relates, or any part of that land.

  A planning authority may also seek to restrain or prevent any breach of planning control, whether actual or threatened, by applying to the court for an interdict. Applications may be made either to the Court of Session or to the Sheriff.

  Guidance on the range of enforcement action available to planning authorities is outlined in the SODD Circular 4/1999: Planning Enforcement and Planning Advice Note (PAN) 54: Planning Enforcement. Copies of both documents are available in the Parliament’s Reference Centre (Bib. numbers 11121 and 1151 respectively).

Public Transport

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail the schemes available in each year since 1997 to encourage the use of public transport; what estimate it has made of the number of people who have used such schemes and whether there has been any increase in the number of people using public transport as a result.

Sarah Boyack: The Scottish Executive works with transport authorities and transport operators to encourage the use of public transport through many initiatives. These include new and improved transport infrastructure, funding through the Public Transport Fund, Rural Transport Fund, Fuel Duty Rebate, and through ticket offers and our Learn To Let Go travel awareness campaign which is currently being evaluated.

  Evaluations of individual schemes and initiatives are not held centrally.

Refuges

Mr Gil Paterson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding has been made available for the furnishing, running and staffing of new refuge places.

Ms Margaret Curran: The Refuge Development Programme is providing £10 million for capital projects to increase and improve refuge provision. This may include furnishing. Funding for revenue costs are the responsibility of the local authorities.

Road Accidents

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents have occurred on the (a) Baljaffrey to Carbeth and (b) Carbeth to Drymen stretches of the A809, in each of the past five years.

Sarah Boyack: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only accidents.

  The table gives the numbers of road accidents which were identified in the STATS 19 returns as occurring on the stretch of the A809 between (a) the junction with the B8050 and the junction with the B821 and between (b) the junction with the B821 and the junction with the A811, over the period 1996 to 2000 inclusive.

  It should be noted that the statistics given in the table are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database, and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that the local authority may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon its knowledge of the road and area concerned.

  


Year 
  

Injury road accidents which occurred on 
  the A809 between the junction with the B8050 and the junction 
  with the B821 
  

Injury road accidents which occurred on 
  the A809 between the junction with the B821 and the junction 
  with the A811 
  



1996 
  

5 
  

8 
  



1997 
  

9 
  

8 
  



1998 
  

8 
  

9 
  



1999 
  

12 
  

3 
  



2000 
  

6 
  

5

Road Accidents

Mr Brian Monteith (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many road accidents have occurred on the Aberfoyle to Kilmahog stretch of the A821 in each of the past five years.

Sarah Boyack: Data about injury road accidents are collected by the police and reported to the Scottish Executive using the STATS 19 statistical report form. These returns cover only road accidents in which one or more people were injured: they do not cover damage only accidents.

  The table gives the numbers of injury road accidents which were identified in the STATS 19 returns as occurring on the stretch of the A821 between its junction with the A81 at Aberfoyle and its junction with the A84 at Kilmahog, over the period 1996 to 2000 inclusive. The figures also include any injury road accidents that occurred on the Loch Katrine spur section of the A821.

  It should be noted that the statistics given in the table are based upon the data which are held in the central statistical database, and which were collected by the police at the time of the accident and subsequently reported to the Executive. They may differ from any figures which the local authority would provide now, because they do not take account of any subsequent changes or corrections that the local authority may have made to the statistical information, for use at local level, about the location of each accident, based upon its knowledge of the road and area concerned.

  



Year 
  

Number of injury road accidents that occurred 
  on the A821 between its junction with the A81 at Aberfoyle 
  and its junction with the A84 at Kilmahog 
  



1996 
  

5 
  



1997 
  

8 
  



1998 
  

8 
  



1999 
  

5 
  



2000 
  

4

School Meals

Irene McGugan (North-East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the current average daily amount spent on purchasing food for school lunches is per pupil and what the average cost to pupils is for a school meal, broken down by local authority area.

Mr Jack McConnell: Information contained in the annual Local Financial Returns to the Scottish Executive of expenditure by education authorities provides some information about total expenditure on, and income from, school meals. However, the information collected does not include the cost of purchasing food for school lunches nor the average cost to pupils for a school meal.

Schools

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it is satisfied with the health and safety record of the company 3Ed during the current Project 2002 refurbishment programme of secondary schools in Glasgow.

Mr Jack McConnell: I refer the member to the answer given to question S1W-18981 on 26 October 2001, concerning Holyrood Secondary School, Glasgow. The overall responsibility for health and safety arrangements at schools in Glasgow lies with Glasgow City Council, and the Scottish Executive does not have a monitoring role in this regard.

Schools

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will detail any fines imposed on companies during the course of the current Project 2002 refurbishment programme of secondary schools in Glasgow.

Dorothy-Grace Elder (Glasgow) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the names were of the contractors called upon to repair the fire alarm system at (a) Holyrood RC Secondary School, (b) St Roch’s Secondary RC School and (c) Shawlands Academy in Glasgow as a result of work carried out under the current Project 2002 refurbishment programme and what the contractors’ costs were in each case.

Mr Jack McConnell: The Scottish Executive is not involved in the detailed management, and operation of, the Glasgow Schools Public/Private Partnership contract, which is rightly a matter for Glasgow City Council. Accordingly, any questions about those issues should be directed to the council.

Scottish Executive Staff

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many civil servants in Victoria Quay, Edinburgh have obtained a Lothian Buses Ridacard with assistance from their employer, in each year since 1997.

Angus MacKay: The total number of civil servants in Victoria Quay, Edinburgh who have obtained a Lothian Buses Ridacard, with a repayable loan from the Scottish Executive, in each year since 1997 is listed below. It should be noted, however, that the Scottish Executive no longer holds information for the period 1 January 1997 to 31 March 1997. The 1997 figure therefore represents Ridacards obtained from April to December 1997.

  1997 - 37 (from April 1997)

  1998 - 43

  1999 - 52

  2000 - 79

  2001 - 76 (to 31 October 2001).

Scottish Executive Travel

Mr Kenny MacAskill (Lothians) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many flights have been taken by (a) ministers and (b) civil servants since 11 September 2001 and how many were with low cost carriers.

Angus MacKay: The number of flights undertaken by ministers and officials for the period 11 September 2001 through to 12 October 2001 is as follows:

  





Return Flights 
  

One Way Flights 
  



Ministers 
  

30 
  

14 
  



Officials 
  

613 
  

82 
  



  Five return flights were with low cost carriers.

  A low cost reservation service through the Scottish Executive's business travel agent commenced on 4 December 2000 and to date 100 return flights have been booked with low cost carriers.

  Business travel schedules of ministers and officials are frequently subject to change at short notice. Low cost carrier bookings are non-refundable and cannot be changed. The majority of Scottish Executive travel is with carriers with whom the Executive has negotiated discount rates and which meet business travellers' requirements on routes, schedules and flexibility.

Scottish Natural Heritage

Fergus Ewing (Inverness East, Nairn and Lochaber) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the budget of Scottish Natural Heritage was in each year since 1997 and how much was spent on (a) the environment and (b) internal organisational functions.

Rhona Brankin: The table shows the budget and a breakdown of expenditure for Scottish Natural Heritage since 1997-98.

  

 

1997-98
(£ million) 
  

1998-99
(£ million) 
  

1999-2000
(£ million) 
  

2000-01
(£ million) 
  



Running Costs 
  

17.0 
  

16.9 
  

17.7 
  

18.5 
  



Capital Costs 
  

1.3 
  

1.4 
  

1.6 
  

2.1 
  



Programme Costs 
  

18.7 
  

18.9 
  

19.9 
  

20.8 
  



Total Budget 
  

37.0 
  

37.2 
  

39.2 
  

41.4 
  



  Running costs include all salary, superannuation and associated expenditure on buildings, travel, energy etc. A large proportion of the salary costs relate to people working directly for the benefit of the natural heritage.

  Capital costs include the purchase or improvement of assets, many of which directly support activities benefiting the natural heritage.

  Programme costs is direct expenditure enhancing and conserving the natural heritage via grants, site safeguard agreements and research contracts etc.

Scottish Water

Mr Andrew Welsh (Angus) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what impact the collection centrally of domestic water rates by the proposed single water authority would have on the revenue levels of local authorities.

Peter Peacock: The impact would depend on how any new arrangements compared with the various different agreements and collection arrangements that individual local authorities have in place now.